Abstract
Olfactory and gustatory functions exhibit over the course of normal aging a marked decline that often goes unnoticed. This decline can be assessed with psychophysical methods of olfac-tory and gustatory testing.
Investigations of the decrease in chemosensory dysfunction during normal aging have significance for prediction of cognitive decline, diagnosis of neurodegen-erative diseases, but also with regard to qual-ity of life. The consequences for the quality of life include mainly occurrence of depression, decline of self-assessed quality of life in gen-eral and assessments of general health, mental health, physical and social functioning in par-ticular, but also changes in dietary habits and an increased risk of household accidents, with potential implications for health status.
The aim of this review is to introduce methods of assess-ment of smell and taste functions, the nature of their decline in normally aging persons, asso-ciations with cognitive decline and emotional status, consequences for quality of life and ways of coping with olfactory and gustatory changes.